


The Cult

by Mystickit



Category: Sally Face (Video Games)
Genre: Henry and Lisa don't marry, Sal and Larry are not brothers, a kind of rewrite of chapter 4 ending, might extend into more chapters, where people live
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-12
Updated: 2019-01-12
Packaged: 2019-10-08 15:03:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,308
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17388593
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mystickit/pseuds/Mystickit
Summary: a sort of rewrite off the end of chapter 4 where major characters don't die and the demon isn't summoned, i might add more chapters or write 'chapter 5' in the future.





	The Cult

The darkness was oppressive, it sunk down on Sal’s chest, dragging out choking breaths as he struggled, he saw flashed of blood, of his family and friends dead, he saw himself holding the knife, the repetitive lights of the police cars, he saw the eyes, the red eyes so cruel and heart stopping but they came from Todd’s face, everything faded until he only saw the eyes, boring deep into his soul.

Sal woke with a gasp, eyes flying into his sweaty face as he looked at himself, no blood, no knife….he sighed heavily in relief, hand going up but hesitating at wiping the sweat from his scarred face. Getting up he realized it was late in the morning so he sighed, getting dressed and ready to leave, he didn’t have classes today so he was meeting Ashley who was visiting from college.

Sal soon forgot about his nightmare as he went through his morning, finding his phone thanks to Neil and meeting up with Larry who was outside in their ‘ghost shed’ as Neil called it. Larry had moved in last night so Sal was more than overjoyed to have a quick bite with him in the kitchen before deciding to take a walk around the apartments with Larry, checking up on the mysteriously missing ghosts.

After the exploration was finished Larry said he wanted to grab some last minute things so Sal left him at the apartments while he went to meet up with Ash. Sal did feel better coming back from talking with ash although he adamantly refused to have it be called a date, his crush long ago was just that, a crush spurred on by his sudden craving of acceptance from one of the few people who say his face and didn’t scream in response, only Ash and Larry had seen it and been totally fine, cause Sal knew his dad still was…uncomfortable around him, but Sal didn’t blame him, his dad already blamed himself.

But Sal’s good mood was ruined when he received a single text from Larry with a single word, types without any exclamation ‘Help’, instantly Sal’s heart froze, he tried texting but he got no response, he tried to call but again got no answer, his mind blanked as he started running into the storm.

Sal could near the crack of drywall as he slammed open Larry’s old room, the bare room hiding nothing as Sal’s breathing got faster, running towards the basement door outside. Outside the storm had worsened, cold water chilling Sal as he made his way to the tree house, shouting up in hopes that Larry was there. In the dark he thought he saw movement so he started climbing, hoping it was Larry and not some homeless man taking shelter from the storm. Popping his head up he did indeed see Larry, tears mixed with the rain under Sal’s prosthetic as he climbed up “Larry!? Are you okay?” he asked, still breathing hard from the run, he really should start working out.

Larry was curled up in the corner, tears streaming down his face as he blinked at Sal “Sal? Sally Face?” he asked tentatively, is he expected someone or something else. Sal nodded, keeping his distance in case it was crowding him “yeah Larry face, it’s me, I’m here” he tried to comfort the older boy who launched himself at Sally, wrapping deceptively muscled arms around Sal’s thing chest and pulling him close. Sal let him, wrapping his own thin arms around Larry and resting his chin on Larry’s head, shushing him and rubbing his back.

After a while Larry calmed down , pulling back as he came back to his senses “sorry man, kind of…caught something” he said, Sal shook his head “no problem man, how about we get back home? A nice warm shower could do us both good” he suggested but Larry shook his head “we can’t, something happening at the apartments, I….saw Miss Rosenberg” he said, Sal sat back “what did she say?” he asked.

Larry sighed “she said they’re summoning the demon again…tonight, she said we have to stop them or else…something bad will happen” he said, Sal looked down, thinking things through before coming to a decision “then we have to stop them, you still have the cult key right?” he asked, Larry nodded so Sal took out his phone “I’ll text Todd and see if he can help us out, but we need to figure out exactly how to stop them, did Miss Rosenberg give you any ideas?” he asked, Larry shook his head “she vanished just after telling me” he reported so Sal sighed “okay, let’s go meet Todd at the front” he said as they left, going into the storm. Unknown to Sal Larry hung back, grabbing something from the tree house before following him inside.

They had arrived before Todd so the duo took up residence by the door, watching the rain stream down the windows, it was strangely calming as Sal turned to observe Larry, he needed to talk to him “hey Larry face?” he asked, happy to see a twitch of a smile as Larry turned to answer him “yes Sally face?” he asked.

“What happened tonight? You scared the hell out of me” Sal asked, instantly hating the ashamed look that washed over Larry’s features, he but bit lip and turned back to the window but before Sal could backtrack Larry spoke “I heard it, the demon in my head, been hearing him for the last few weeks” he revealed, Sal was quiet at Larry continued “it was driving me crazy and tonight….I wanted to…stop the voices, I wanted to kill myself” he said the last part so quietly Sal almost missed it, under his prosthetic Sal’s mouth hung open and he could feel his eye start stinging.

“but I couldn’t do it, I was so damn scared I texted you….I’m sorry” Larry finished him explanation, only to be bumped by Sal latching himself onto Larry, hugging him tightly, a line of tears dripping from his prosthetic “don’t be sorry, thank you…for not dying, Larry I…I need you” he revealed, Larry hugged back “no you don’t, Sal, you’re like the strongest guy I know, with everything that you’ve gone through you never gave up, you never even turned callous like me, you just…kept marching, I…I just couldn’t” he tried to say.

Sal shook his head “you’re just as strong Larry, you’re life’s sucked too, but you’ve lasted this long and….i still need you, who else is going to be my safety net when I wake up in the middle of the night, heart pounding from a nightmare, who else is going to understand me and…love me…the way you do?” he asked, but he answered his own question “no one, that’s who….this whole situation is fucked to hell….but not you, not us, we’ll get through this” he asserted. Larry couldn’t respond, voice choked as he just hugged Sal, thanking whatever being looked favorably on them that Sal had come into his life.

Ten minutes later Todd met them in the front, holding Sal’s new necrolight guitar, after he explained it to them he looked ready to go with them but Larry shook his head “I can’t explain it but…you can’t come Todd” he said, Sal looked up at him curiously as Todd’s face morphed into confusion “what?” he asked Larry folded his arms “you can’t come, some really bad shits telling me you can’t be anywhere near the apartments right now” he explained or rather, tried to explain. After a moment Todd relented, as he was leaving he told them to call for any reason.

Now they had to think, their goal was stop the cultists but how? The only person they could ask was Miss Rosenberg but she was dead…they had no other option but to try the super gearboy. Inside room 102 they pulled the blanket of Miss Rosenberg’s chair, but the Super gearboy didn’t light up or respond, their frustration built until Sal’s hand bumped against his guitar, suddenly he remembered that Todd said it basically was a tool to interact with the ghost world…it was worth a try. Spinning it into his hands he tried a few cords, after a few more odd notes and cords he could see it, a circle on the chair was a symbol matching his guitar, moving quickly Sal played the cord and watched in fascination as a mound of ghostly flesh rose from the chair, forming itself into the very old, and very rotted corpse of Miss Rosenberg.

Sal felt his hands fall before speaking “Miss Rosenberg…how are you?” he asked dumbly, Miss Rosenberg tilted her head “I’m okay Sally dear, but I’m afraid we haven’t much time for pleasantries, you must stop the cult, and the demon” Sal nodded “but Miss Rosenberg we don’t know how to” he said.

Miss Rosenberg looked them over “you must prevent the summoning by using your ability and intelligence Sally dear, and you too Larry, you must steal and destroy the five relics that summon the demon, they reside in the cults church, in the summoning circle” she said, Sal and Larry nodded “what do they look like?” Larry asked; Miss Rosenberg shook her head ‘I do not know; they hide themselves from even my sight” she answered.

Then just as sudden as she arrived she left, leaving both boys with an unsettled feeling as they left, retreating to the basement to talk it over. Sitting on the old couch Sal started them off “so…we have to destroy the relics…” he started, Larry watched him from his spot, continuing “…but we don’t know what they look like or how many cult members are down there” he finished. They were silent for a moment before they looked at each other, somber beings meeting as they came to a silent decision “we have to go down there, tonight” Sal said, Larry averted his eyes so Sal amended his sentence “I have to go” he said, standing as Larry looked back up, standing with him.

“no way in hell dude, I’m not letting you go down there alone” he said but Sal folded his arms, frowning under his prosthetic “Larry this isn’t like what we’ve faced before, this is a situation where…we’re almost guaranteed to die” he said, Larry marched Sal’s look “I don’t care, Sal, you’re my best friend and my brother in everything but blood, we’re going down there, kicking some cult ass and save the damned world” he assured him.

Sal looked up at Larry, searching for any sense of faltering in his eyes, a touch of hesitance, but surprisingly found none, Sal strangely felt better, he had been seeking himself up to go alone but his heart calmed at knowing that Larry would be there “okay, let’s get ready” he grinned at Larry who pulled him into a one armed hug as they moved on.

In no time at all both boys stood at the closed hatch in the floor, after a moment Larry unlocked it and opened it, they stared into the darkness “last chance to back out” Sal said, Larry fixed him with a dirty look “in your dreams Sally” Sal cracked a smile before descending down.

The underground church was still just as creepy as it was before, even more as the lights were on and humming as a cold feeling cut through them. Sal and Larry moved quickly, hiding in the shadowy corners when they heard footsteps, successfully bypassing hooded figures moving in a rush, obviously preparing for the summoning.

Now that they were alone and in the church they stopped to plan, Larry pulled out a map he had quickly drawn from his repeated trips down and together they figured out the main ceremony room and started again, slowly but steadily making their way into the main ceremony room, there they stopped in the shadows there in the center was a bloody pentagram, five skulls at each point and cult members rushing around, keeping busy.

“Those must be the relics, but there’s no way we can get them” Larry said, pointing to the skulls, Sal thought for a moment, watching the members milling around before he got an idea “we can use their cloaks to get close, they’re so busy they’ll never notice two extra people” he suggested, Larry bit his lip but nodded “okay Sal, let’s go find some” he agreed, they backed out to search.

Unfortunately all they could find was one set of dusty robes, going back to the main ceremony Sal decided he would be the one to go, so dressed up he tried to casually make his way through the crowd, he was careful to dodge the other members, stooping quickly he snatched a skull, tucking it under his robe and starting to make his way out, moving a bit faster.

Unfortunately a yell went up behind him, distracted he stumbled into a member who turned, eyes locking on first Sal’s prosthetic then the skull hidden in his hands, he shouted, reaching for Sal who dodged, ramming his shoulder into the man’s chest before bolting, hearing ruckus behind him as they chased. He couldn’t meet with Larry who he just bolted, leaving the main ceremony room he haphazardly ran through the halls and rooms, dodging cult members until he was trapped in a spike room, skidding to a stop he desperately looked for another way out as the entrance was blocked.

Sal couldn’t hope to fight them off, and the spikes only led to the back wall…he had no choice, still panting he took out the skull, holding it he looked right at them before turning, arm wound back to hurl the skull towards the wall, unfortunately as soon as it left his hand Sal was tackled, his breath knocked out as he was held down, a sickeningly sweet scent invading his senses as he lost consciousness.

Sal woke up groggy, grunting he noticed two things, first he had no prosthetic, and second he was restrained, arms tied behind him as he tried to sit up, third was that he was shirtless, next he noticed he was surrounded by the cult members, finally he noticed he was in the ritual circle.

Now Sal started struggling more but couldn’t as the cult members looked down at him blankly, his anxiety started acting as, not only was he in danger but his prosthetic was gone and so many people were looking at him, he started hyperventilating as the members finally looked away, looking behind Sal so he turned, his jackrabbit heart going full stop as he saw the new figure.

The figure was tall, their body hidden under the cloak and their hood replaced by a vicious, snarling dog mask, Sal remembered that mask…at the park just before he….he was the man who killed his mom….Sal’s face much have betrayed his recognition as the figure laughed lowly from under the mask “Sal Fisher…Sally Face, what a pleasant surprise that it’s you who almost succeeded, then again I should have expected this, your mother after all was a most extraordinary person, I expected her son to be just the same” he said.

Sal couldn’t bring himself to say anything as the leader continued “well, as much as I love reunions I think it’s time we got this show on the road yes?” he looked pointedly at the members who snapped to attention “yes Dogma!” they shouted before taking their place. They started chanting in Latin and Sal felt his skin becoming hot, he fell back and curled up as he felt fire crawling over his body, pain mounting.

His vision blurred again until it suddenly stopped, their chanting halted as the whole room rumbled, around them, Sal grit his teeth as his sensitive skin felt the cool air and he curled up even more as large parts of the ceiling started caving in with the second explosion, scattering the cultists as the whole room started coming down.

It was over fairly quickly, Sal opened his eyes, sitting up to see large piles of rubble near him, shattering the circle, miraculously he was in the only clear spot as he heard footsteps, turning he gasped in relief as he saw Larry, face smudged with dust as he climbed over the rubble, reaching Sal to cut him loose, unfortunately Sal was still under the influence of whatever they used to knock him out so he couldn’t stand and his shock made him mute as he just clung to Larry.

Larry thankfully got the idea, picking up Sal he held him bridal style before looking at the circle, it was cracked and two skulls were shattered, with a sneer he stomped on the other three before starting to leave, carefully climbing over the rubble he let Sal hug him closer, tears soaking his shirt as they made their way to the stairs.

Unfortunately it wasn’t over, from the rubble rose a bloodied hand, racked in pain Dogma freed himself, rage slowing through him as he grabbed his staff, marching over his dead and injured cultists he son caught up to the tired boys “you! You waste of breath” he shouted, causing Larry to turn, eyes wide as he saw the master closing in fast, with Sal he couldn’t do anything so he turned, yelling as the staff hit his shoulder, knocking him forward and forcing him to push Sal out and away from him to avoid landing on him, Larry groaned and rolled over, looking right into the crazed eyes of the master as he raised his staff, ready to strike again.

But Larry was prepared, in a flash of desperation he reached behind him, pulling a gun from his waistband and pointing it at the master, remembering how he took it from his hiding place in the tree house before they met Todd, but his fear caused him to pull the trigger and in the same breath he struck the masters shoulder, but it didn’t impede the figure as it knocked the gun from Larry’s hands, knocking it behind him as he rose above him “bad move kid! Now sit still and die!” he yelled, fortunately his heavy staff never reached Larry again, instead another bang pierced the silent church, the master stilled as blood started spilling from his mask as he collapsed.

Larry looked behind him and saw Sal with both hands pointing the gun, his whole body was shaking as Larry crawled forward, gently taking the gun and gathering Sal in his arms, ignoring the severe pain from his shoulder as tears fell from his own eyes, matching Sal’s as they cried on the dirty ground.

Sal and Larry made it out of the cultists church, the official story was that a gas explosion unsettled the land under Addison Apartments and that Larry and Sal who were in the basement got the brunt of it, Larry had a broken shoulder and several cuts while Sal was physically unharmed but refused to speak or acknowledge anything, the trauma not resolving itself quite so soon.

Addison Apartments was condemned after the explosion damaged the foundation, Addison had vanished so with no owner and no money all tendons were evicted and given temporary living arrangements in a nearby apartment complex.

Now years after the events only Larry and Sal knew what really happened, but the story was trapped by Sal who refused to move, speak or have any semblance of freewill and Larry who simply said every time he was asked by anyone that he ‘didn’t remember’ and to ‘wait for Sally’.


End file.
